Hamburg chicken

Hamburg
Silver-spangled cock
Conservation status
Other names
  • Dutch: Hollandse Hoen
  • German: Hamburger
  • Hamburgh
Country of origin
  • Holland
  • United Kingdom
StandardNHDB (in Dutch)
Useeggs
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    • Full-size: 2–2.5 kg[3]
    • Bantam: 680–790 g[4]: 131 
  • Female:
    • Full-size: 1.6–1.8 kg[3]
    • Bantam: 620–740 g[4]: 131 
Skin colourwhite
Egg colourwhite
Comb typerose
Classification
APAContinental[5]
EEyes[6]
PCGBSoft feather: light[7]
Citron spangled bantam cock

The Hamburg, Dutch: Hollands hoen, German: Hamburger, is a breed of chicken which is thought to have originated in Holland sometime prior to the fourteenth century.[8] The name may be spelled Hamburgh in the United Kingdom and in Australia.[9]

Characteristics

The Hamburg is a small or medium-sized breed. Cocks weigh 2–2.5 kg and hens about 1.6–1.8 kg,[3] with slender legs and a neat rose comb. Ring size is 16 mm for cocks and 15 mm for hens. Eleven different colour varieties are recognised in Germany and Holland, including silver-spangled, gold-spangled, gold-pencilled, citron-pencilled, silver-pencilled, white, black and citron-spangled;[6] six of these are included in the American standard of perfection.[5] Pencilled breeds are smallest and self-coloured birds are largest. There are also Bantam Hamburgs.[3][10]

Use

Hamburgs mature quickly and are considered good egg producers. Eggs weigh about 50 g,[3] with glossy, white shells.

In literature

Lalia Phipps Boone argued in 1949 that Chauntecleer and Pertelote, the chickens in Chaucer's "Nun's Priest's Tale," are Golden Spangled Hamburgs.[11]

L. Frank Baum was keen on Hamburgs: he started a monthly trade journal, Hamburgs, in 1880; his first book, published in 1886, was The Book of the Hamburgs: A Brief Treatise upon the Mating, Rearing, and Management of the Different Varieties of Hamburgs.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hamburg (chicken).
  1. ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. ^ Breed data sheet: Hamburger / Germany (Chicken). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Hollandse Hoenders (in Dutch). Nederlandse Hoender en Dwerghoenderbond. Archived 19 August 2014.
  4. ^ a b Victoria Roberts (2008). British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 9781405156424.
  5. ^ a b APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
  6. ^ a b Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
  7. ^ Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Poultry Breeds - Hamburg Chickens". Breeds of Livestock. Oklahoma State University: Department of Animal Sciences. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  9. ^ Australian Poultry Standards, 2nd Edition
  10. ^ American Poultry Association (1998). The American Standard of Perfection. Petaluma, CA: Global Interprint.
  11. ^ Lalia Phipps Boone (1949). Chauntecleer and Partlet Identified. Modern Language Notes 64 (2): 78-81. (subscription required)